


Poetry is Love

by Noname_Kat



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Happy Ending, Idiots in Love, Kinda, Mutual Pining, Pining, Poetry, Swan-Mills Family (Once Upon a Time), Timeline? What Timeline?, Tiny bit of jealousy, poetry competition
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-26
Updated: 2020-09-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:08:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26182411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Noname_Kat/pseuds/Noname_Kat
Summary: A friendly competition between friends is usually a recipe for disaster. Especially when the bet is between a certain blonde and brunette... Who can write the best poem between them? Regina and her proper prose or Emma and her witty whimsy? Or will they both fail miserably because they’re too busy pining away for each other?
Relationships: Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Emma Swan
Comments: 38
Kudos: 128
Collections: Swan Queen Supernova V: Forever Starstruck





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [junetree74](https://archiveofourown.org/users/junetree74/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Poetry is Love [Art, Protostar]](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26225776) by [junetree74](https://archiveofourown.org/users/junetree74/pseuds/junetree74). 



> I want to thank the brilliant artist of the fabulous work that inspired this story,[ junetree74!](https://archiveofourown.org/users/junetree74) Please check out her amazing art [ here!](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26225776)
> 
> Also, a huge thank you to [WannabeLovesPizza](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WannabeLovesPizza) for becoming my cheerleader even though she didn't sign up for it! lol
> 
> Last but certainly not least, thank you to the SQSupernova team for all your hard work!
> 
> Enjoy!

Emma sat in the booth at Granny's, playing with the salt shaker. She looked up at the clock and frowned. Regina and Henry were late, and that never happened. She reached for her cell phone to check on what was up, but the diner's front door flying open stopped her movement.

"You will sit in the booth next to your mother and not speak a word. Do you hear me, young man?" Henry nodded and slid into the booth beside Emma and kept his head hung low.

"Whoa, what's up?" Emma looked between them both with wide eyes. She could practically see the steam coming out of Regina's ears. She was so angry.

"Your son took it upon himself to write some graffiti on school property!" Regina took her gloves off and slammed them down on the table before sliding into the booth across from Emma.

"Seriously?" She turned and looked at Henry and noticed his ears had turned bright red with embarrassment. "Wait, why is he just my son when he does something bad?" Regina gave her a look, and Emma gulped. Damn, she could be intimidating when she wanted to be. It'd been a while since she had seen Regina this angry.

"Tell Miss Swan what you wrote on the bathroom wall, Henry." Emma cringed when she heard Regina pull out the Miss Swan title. It'd been a while since she had heard that as well. 

"Do I have to?"

"Yes."

After a big sigh, Henry sat up straighter at the table and took a deep breath. "There once was a man from Nantucket--"

"Whoa, okay, I'm gonna stop you there." Emma suppressed a giggle by covering her mouth with her hand. She could see Regina glaring at her from the corner of her eye.

"Now tell Miss Swan where you heard that little gem of a limerick." Henry slid back down in his seat and whispered something. "I'm sorry, sweetheart I didn't quite catch that?" Regina put her hand up to her ear and leaned across the table.

"Ma! I learned it from Ma!" Regina's head slowly turned to look at Emma. Once again, Emma gulped seeing the anger on Regina's face. 

"Hey! I may have told him a few dirty jokes, but I didn't tell him to vandalize school property with them!" She turned to glare at Henry. It was one thing for him to get himself in trouble, but now she was too! Just great! "What were you thinking?"

"It was just a stupid dare…" He was staring down at the table while playing with a napkin.

"Since when do you give in to peer pressure?" He didn't answer and shrugged his shoulders with a grunt. "Not liking the attitude, mister." Emma looked at Henry and shook her head. Guess it was officially the teenage years. "I think you should head home and do your homework."

"But what about dinner?" 

"There's leftover pasta in the fridge," Regina gave him a look that made Emma glad she wasn't the one in trouble. At least she hoped she wasn't in trouble. "Heat it up and then do your homework—no video games. No TV. No internet unless needed for your homework." He nodded at her and slid out of the booth. "I'll be home soon to check on your progress and let you know what Emma and I decide on what your punishment is." For a moment, Emma thought Henry was actually going to talk back at Regina. Luckily the kid thought better of it and headed out the diner door.

"Well, I guess we officially have a teenager."

"I was really hoping he'd skip the rebellion stage."

"Hah! With us as his parents? No way."

"I suppose it's not easy having your Moms be the Mayor and the Sheriff of the small town you live in…"

"Not to mention the whole Savior and Evil Queen thing. Oh, and Snow White and Prince Charming as your grandparents. Honestly, I'm surprised that it's taken him this long to act out." Emma sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I need a drink. Ruby!!!"

"Can you scream a little louder, dear. I don't think they heard you in Boston."

"Haha." Emma smiled up at Ruby as she walked up to them.

"Hey. I would've come over sooner, but it looked like you guys were dealing with something."

"Just an idiot teenager."

"Emma!"

"What? It's true…"

"I'm sure you guys will figure it out." She smiled brightly at both of them. "Are you both getting your usuals?" 

"Yup, and I'll have a beer. You want one too, Your Majesty?" Emma looked over at Regina and saw her rolling her eyes at her. She loved it when Regina rolled her eyes at her. Was that weird?

"I'll have a glass of my white, Ruby."

"Got it." They watched Ruby walk-off to put their order in.

"Your white?"

"I may have a special reserve of select wines kept here for special occasions."

"And our son being an idiot is a special occasion?" Emma couldn't help but laugh.

"Yes." Regina joined Emma in laughing.

"What are we going to do with him, Regina?"

"We'll set up an appropriate punishment and hope this was just a small act of truancy to show off to his friends." They smiled up at Ruby as she put their drinks down. Emma could see something was still on Regina's mind.

"None of this is on you, ya know?" Regina gave her a funny look and just stared at her for a moment.

"How do you do that?"

"What?" Emma sipped her beer and suddenly felt odd seeing Regina's brown eyes looking at her so intently.

"Know what's bothering me?"

"Savior intuition?" She didn't know how to explain to Regina that she just felt a connection to her. She didn't want to come across as a creeper. 

"I suppose." Regina again looked at Emma in a way that made her stomach do a little somersault. It wasn't such a bad feeling to have… "So, I guess we should figure out Henry's punishment?"

"Well, definitely, no video games for a while." She took another drink of her beer and savored the burn of the pale ale. She usually preferred darker beers, but Granny only stocked the lighter stuff because the dwarves, Leroy mainly, preferred it. 

"A month?" She watched as Regina took a sip of her wine. A tiny drop stayed on her lip, and Regina licked it off with no second thoughts, but Emma almost spilled her beer. What was this pale ale doing to her?!

"Let's make it a full six weeks? I want to make sure he knows this is something he needs to take seriously." Thankful Regina overlooked her ogling. Emma continued, "Do we take away the entire internet, or is that too much?" 

"How about limited hours?"

"Seems fair. I'll trust you to decide on all that." Ruby showed up with their food, and Emma moaned as she bit into her burger. She didn't realize how hungry she was. Regina clearing her throat made her glance up. "What?"

"Would you like to be alone with your hamburger, dear?" Emma blushed and grabbed her napkin and dabbed at her mouth. "I have one other thing I'd like Henry to do as part of his punishment."

"What's that?" Emma grabbed an onion ring and chomped down on it and took a drink from her beer.

"Emma, slow down. You're going to choke." Regina shook her head, but she had a small smile on her lips as she took a little bite of her club sandwich. Once she had adequately chewed and swallowed, she continued, "I'd like him to do a research paper on poetry and maybe even write a poem or two. So he can get an appreciation for _actual_ poetry." 

"Wow, added homework for punishment. You really are The Evil Queen." Emma winked and then paused when she swore a visible blush appeared on Regina's cheeks.

"Yes, well, it'd probably do you some good to also look into some actual poetry, Miss Swan." Emma cringed, here we go… "How could you tell him those kinds of jokes?" Regina's words had no real bite to them, but Emma could sense that Regina wasn't exactly thrilled with her.

"Please, he hears way worse than that at school on the daily." Emma finished off her beer and looked around for Ruby. She spotted her at the counter and held up her glass, signaling she wanted another. "Do you need a refill?"

"I'm fine, but thank you." They sat in silence for a moment. Ruby brought over the fresh beer and took the empty mug away.

"I'll do it."

"What?"

"I'll learn to appreciate poetry."

"Really?"

"Yup, but I have one condition."

"What's that?"

"I want you to do it as well."

"Do you not think I appreciate poetry?"

"I just have a feeling you're not into it quite as much as you want me to believe you are." Emma smiled brightly, and Regina rolled her eyes. "I don't want to write a paper either."

"That's more than one condition."

"Yeah, yeah. How about this. We take some time to study the matter, and we write a poem to each other?" Emma wasn't sure where this was coming from, but something about it made her heartbeat increase. It was all so thrilling, but it was also incredibly frightening at the same time.

"You want to write me a poem?" Regina's eyebrow slowly raised, and Emma smirked. She hoped she wasn't getting in over her head. 

"Well, you know, for the challenge…" Emma took too big of a gulp of beer and choked. She held up her hand and waved it back and forth, so Regina couldn't say I told you so.

"Alright."

"Alright?!" She couldn't believe this was actually going to happen.

"I have a few conditions as well, Sheriff." Emma knew Regina was getting serious if she was pulling out the titles.

“Lay them on me, Madame Mayor.”

"No limericks or rhyming." 

"Aww, man. I suppose I can handle that." Emma's palms were suddenly sweaty. What was she thinking?

"Is there something on the line?"

"On the line?"

"Like a bet? What's the end game?" Just to write a sappy poem to you… Emma shook that odd thought from her mind.

"Um, I suppose? How about if I win you cook me dinner every day for a month?"

"Emma, I practically already do that."

"Yeah, but this way I don't have to feel guilty about it." She was trying to be funny, but Regina suddenly looked sad.

"You feel guilty about it?"

"What? No! Of course not, sorry I was trying to be funny." Regina only nodded, so Emma tried to smooth over the situation. "So, what do you want out of me if you win?" An odd look crossed Regina's face but only for a second.

"Pull weeds and help me garden for a month." A bright smile lit up Regina's face, which made Emma smile until she realized what Regina had just said.

"Ugh! That sounds awful!" Not really; spending time with Regina wasn't bad. The weeds she could do without.

"Do we have a deal?"

"Yup!" Emma wiped her hand on her jeans before holding it out to shake on their deal. With the handshake completed, Emma finished off her beer. "How will we decide the winner?"

"I trust us to figure it out like rational adults." Regina finished off her wine and went for her purse.

"I got it." Emma grabbed her wallet and took her credit card out, sitting it on the table.

"Are you sure? You paid last week…" Dinner at the diner was an every Friday thing.

"I eat food at your house all the time, Regina. The least I can do is cover Granny's now and then."

"Okay, thank you. I better get home and make sure Henry is doing as he was told. Good luck with the poetry, Emma. You're going to need it." Regina gave her a soft smile before she made her exit. Emma watched her as she walked out of the diner.

"You're drooling."

"Shut it, Rubes." The waitress only laughed as Emma handed over her credit card. What had she just gotten herself into?!


	2. Chapter 2

Regina crumpled up the piece of paper in front of her and set it on fire. What had she been thinking when she agreed to write a poem?! She barely even knew anything about poetry! Of course, she couldn't let Emma know that. The entire idea of a poem-writing bet came out of nowhere, and of course, she just went along with whatever Emma wanted. The idiot blonde had wormed her way into her cold heart. Ugh…She was pathetic, falling for her best friend. How cliche.

She looked up at the clock on her office wall. Henry should be there any second. He had moped all weekend long after learning of all his various punishments for his walk on the wild side of petty vandalism. She still wasn't sure what had gotten into him. A small knock on her office door saved her from overthinking about Henry once again.

"Come in." She was surprised to see Emma step in with a bag from Granny's in her hand. "What's this?"

"It's good to see you too, Regina." Regina rolled her eyes.

"It's lovely to see you, Emma. What brings you by my office on this boring Monday afternoon?"

"That's better. I think." Emma walked up to the desk and placed the bag down in front of Regina. "Don't say I've never done anything nice for you." Emma sat down in the chair in front of her and looked at her expectantly. It warmed Regina's heart—she looked like a kid on Christmas morning, waiting for you to open the present they got for you.

Regina pulled the bag closer to her and slowly opened the top and peeked inside. "Is this..."

"Yup!" The smile of Emma's face was radiant. 

Regina pulled out the still-warm pastry and smiled. "Granny hardly ever makes them anymore." She took a bite and moaned. 

"Do you want to be alone with your apple fritter?" Emma was blushing slightly, and again Regina rolled her eyes at the blonde.

"Do you know why she decided to make them? I know she's not fond of the process."

"Someone may have dropped off a basket of apples and begged her to make them." Regina's eyebrows shot up.

"Is that why you offered to pick apples yesterday?" She'd been so busy lately that she had neglected her apple tree. Emma offered to help her pick them if she could take a few for herself. Regina thought it had been odd Emma had wanted some of the apples, especially because she wasn't much of a fruit lover.

"Maybe…" Regina didn’t know how to respond. It was such a sweet thing for Emma to do for her.

"Well, thank you." The office door opened, and Henry came marching in and flopped down on the couch.

"Hey, Kid. Rough day at the office?" He shrugged. Emma rolled her eyes. Regina shook her head.

"Did you get the poetry books from Belle?" He didn't answer, but he reached into his backpack and brought out a stack of books and dropped them on the table with a loud thud. It was only day four of his punishment, but Regina was beginning to think this might be more of a punishment to her and Emma. "Okay, once you complete your schoolwork, get to work on your poetry assignment."

"Speaking of poetry." Emma turned back to her and wiggled her eyebrows. "I was going to ask when we wanted to end our little bet? We didn't set a deadline." Oh god, she was adorable when she did that with her eyebrows. "Regina?"

"Huh?"

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, sorry. It's been a long day. What were you saying?" Regina couldn't believe she got distracted so easily.

"Umm, the bet? A timeline on when we should finish?" 

"Oh, yes." Ugh, stupid poetry bet. She didn't want to drag it out too long, but she needed more time. "How about two weeks from this Friday?" That seemed like a reasonable amount of time to get something done, hopefully.

Emma nodded and seemed to be contemplating something. "That sounds good. Do you maybe want to make a night of it? Like maybe do dinner or something?"

"I could make something?"

"Oh, well, why don't we order in? We usually do Granny's on Friday. I don't want you to plan anything since you'll be busy trying to write something at the last minute." The smirk on Emma's face was priceless. Regina had the sudden urge to want to kiss it off her face.

"I believe you'll find, dear, that I'll complete this challenge with ease, and you'll be blown away by poetic prose." 

"You guys are weird" They both slightly jumped at Henry's sudden words. Regina had honestly forgotten their son was there.

"Everything is weird to a teenager, Kid." Emma's cell phone started to ring, and she answered and listened to whoever was on the other end. "Gotta go." She stood up to make her exit.

"Is everything alright?" Regina stood as well. She wasn't too sure why.

"Yeah, just some drunk at the docks."

"Tell, Hook hello..." Regina scowled at the thought of Emma rushing to check on the idiot pirate.

"It's Leroy, actually. Hook left town a few days ago. Did no one tell you?" Emma looked at her oddly.

"Where'd he go?" Not that she cared, but her curiosity was peaked.

"Said he missed the open seas and took off through a portal Zelena made for him. I'm honestly shocked Zelena didn't tell you?"

"We had a little disagreement a couple of weeks ago."

A loud laugh from Henry made them both turn to look at him. "You called her a low-life bastard witch that only a flying monkey could love."

Emma giggled. "Wow, that was kinda low even for you, Regina."

"It was…I should probably apologize."

"I better get going before one of the dockworkers tosses Leroy in the sea. Although, it'd probably do him some good." She gave a small wave and headed out the door.

Regina sighed and grabbed her cell phone. She sent Zelena a text inviting her over for dinner. It pinged backed almost immediately, and Regina smiled at the reply. "Will there be an apology served for dessert?" Regina texted back a confirmation that there, in fact, would be and dropped her phone back down on her desk. She walked over to the couch and sat down by Henry with a sigh.

"That bad of a day, Mom?" She smiled at him and shook her head.

"Not really, just not feeling it today." He nodded and turned his attention back to his homework. Regina glanced at the pile of books on the table. She supposed it wouldn't hurt to look at one of them to get an idea of what she needed to do to get motivated to write her damn poem. She grabbed the one off the top and flipped through it.

"Belle said these books were best for beginners." 

"I'm sure she gave you her best ones." This could be a problem because she probably needed one for herself. It's not like he needed all of these… "Mind if I borrow this one? I need something to read this evening?" He gave her an odd look but agreed. "Let's head home. I've done all I can do for Storybrooke today." They packed up all their things and headed out. She needed to throw a meal together to make Zelena feel special. Luckily her sister's tastes weren't too fancy. A casserole of some sort would do.

* * *

"Mmm…Sis, this is perfect."

"Glad you like it." A simple chicken tetrazzini was enough to win Zelena's forgiveness; well, that, plus a slice of apple pie. She had to buy some granny smiths from the store to appease Zelena's green apple fetish. 

"Now tell me, why is my nephew so grumpy?" Zelena turned to Henry, who was picking at his pie with a frown on his face.

"I'm fine." Henry looked up at his Mom and asked if he could be excused from the table. Regina wasn't in the mood to deal with him, so she dismissed him with a nod and a wave of her hand.

"Wow. He's moodier than you are when you don't get your way." Regina gave Zelena a look, and the redhead held her arms up with a smirk on her face. "Seriously, what's up?"

"He got into trouble at school."

"Henry? Our precious little Henry got into trouble?" Zelena actually looked stunned. "Guess nature versus nurture is a thing after all. What did he do?"

"He wrote some graffiti on a bathroom wall." It sounded rather silly when you said it out loud.

"Anything good?" Zelena took a sip of her post pie tea and looked at Regina with an amused look on her face.

"A dirty limerick." Zelena nearly spit her tea out as she laughed.

"Oh, that's bloody brilliant. I'm so proud."

"Do not encourage him, Zelena." Regina pointed her finger as she glared at Zelena, who continued to laugh.

"Oh, calm down, Sis. He's just being a normal teenager."

"I know." Her phone pinged, and she looked down and smiled at a message from Emma. A hand suddenly grabbed the device out of her grasp.

"Who's making my little Sis smile like that?" Zelena looked at the message and then back at Regina with an amused look on her face. "The Savior?" Regina knew she was blushing, and she hated herself for it. She grabbed for her phone, but Zelena pulled it back and read the message aloud. "Hey, Regina. Hate to tell you, but I'm a regular Jack Frost at this poem thing, you're going down, lady!" Regina couldn't help but smile at hearing Emma's silly mistake, and Zelena spotted her goofy look right away. "And how is my dear Sis 'going down' on The Savior?"

"Give me my phone, Zelena!" Zelena handed it back with a shit-eating grin on her face, and Regina wanted to magic her out of the house. "She's referring to a bet. That is all. Get your mind out of the gutter!"

"Tell me more." Zelena used her magic to transform their tea to martinis and settled into her chair with a broad smile on her face. Regina sighed and explained the bet to her. Trying the best she could not to give away that she was crushing on Emma. "You have it bad for Emma, don't you?" Regina pinched the bridge of her nose. "C'mon, Regina. If you can't share secrets with your dear sister, then who else can you? Snow White?"

"Not funny." Regina had a small smile on her face seeing how attentive Zelena was looking at her. "Fine. I seem to have developed some feelings for Emma--"

"I knew it!"

"Keep your voice down! I don't want Henry hearing." She sighed, "It's just a silly crush. I'm sure it'll pass." Grabbing the martini in front of her, she drank it down in two gulps. This was not how she had expected the evening to go.

"Just tell her how you feel." Zelena made it sound so simple.

"Are you mad? No. Just no." Regina stood and paced around the kitchen.

"Regina--"

"I'm done talking about this. Don't ruin the evening by pushing the matter." Zelena looked as if she were going to say more, but then she thought better of it.

"Fine, but if you ever need to talk. I'm here for you." That made Regina smile. It was nice to have someone she could talk to, other than Emma, of course. "Want help with your poem? I know a good one." She cleared her throat, "There once was a munchkin from Oz--"

"Zelena!"


	3. Chapter 3

Emma reached up and grabbed a box off the top shelf of her closet. Removing the lid she smiled down at her baby blanket. She ran her finger over the purple ribbon and smiled. Taking it tenderly out of the box she set it gently onto her bed. Digging back into the box she moved items out of her way to find what she was looking for. At the very bottom, she found it, a well-worn leather-bound journal.

After having Henry taken away from her at the prison, she fell into a pretty deep depression. It was understandable, of course, considering everything she had just gone through. The on-staff therapist had given her the journal in hopes that writing down her feelings would help her deal with the trauma. The surprising thing was, it actually worked. She wrote in it daily until the very last day she was there. Then she never opened it again.

She looked down at the journal in her hands and wondered if she was ready to revisit the memories inside of it. Emma wasn't sure why the journal had popped into her head after making her poetry bet with Regina. Maybe it was because poetry was usually about emotions, and this thing was full of those. She sighed as she pushed the box aside and sat down on the bed. Opening it up, she smiled at her handwriting; it hadn't improved over the years.

"The loneliness is the worst part…" Emma shook her head as she skimmed over some of teenage-Emma's thoughts. "I hope he finds someone that loves him as much as I do..." A tear slid down her cheek. "I wonder if my parents ever loved me…" She slowly shut the journal and closed her eyes. More tears ran down her cheeks as she tried to keep her composure. Maybe this wasn't the thing she needed to write a poem to Regina. The part about finding someone to love Henry as much as she did had come true, at least. That, and her parents loving her, that was true too.

The ringtone of her phone rang out, and she got up to grab it off the nightstand. Regina's smiling face lit up the screen, and she smiled down at it fondly before answering the call. "What can I do for you, Madam Mayor?"

"Are you okay?" Regina's voice sounded very concerned. Emma wiped the tears off of her face. How could she possibly know I'm having an emo moment right now?

"Yeah, I'm fine. What's up?" There was a pause, and Emma knew Regina was contemplating pushing the subject.

"I was just calling to say I can't make it to dinner at Granny's tomorrow."

"Oh…" Sadness suddenly washed over her, and Emma felt a bit silly about it. She cleared her throat before speaking again. "Work stuff?" Emma cringed. It really wasn't any of her business what Regina did with her Friday nights.

"No. Maleficent needs my help with a spell--"

"A spell?" Emma felt the wave of jealousy wash over her and tried to shake it off.

"Yes, a spell. It's to help stabilize the mines so the dwarves can get back into the collapsed areas."

"Oh. That's good." Why did they need to do that on Friday night?! Emma rolled her eyes at herself. She felt like such a jealous school girl.

"Are you sure you're okay? I can push it back to this weekend, but I was hoping to have it free to work on...things...around the house." That made Emma smile.

"Need to work on your poem, huh?"

"Maybe." Emma bit her lip imagining the pout that was on Regina's lips. "So it's alright that I miss dinner?"

"Yes, of course. Town safety comes first."

"Always." Regina laughed. "Henry will meet you at the usual time. He should have all his things with him for the weekend. He's still pretty grumpy, but I've seen flashes of his usual self. Maybe if he has a good weekend with you, we might let up on some of his punishments?"

"Getting soft in your old age, huh, Regina?" She braced herself and hoped the joke didn't go too far.

"Haha, Miss Swan. I'm just tired of seeing him mope around the house. It's rather exhausting."

"I understand. I'll keep my eye on him this weekend and see if I can get him to open up some."

"That'd be wonderful, thank you." There was a moment of silence between them, and Emma wasn't sure what to say. Regina spoke up before she could. "Well, I better get back to work. Let me know if you need anything."

"Always. I'll talk to you later." She smiled as she spoke, hoping it made her sound happier than she had earlier because she was—just hearing Regina's voice made her feel better. She went back to the book sitting on her bed. She took a deep breath and opened the journal up once more.

* * *

"Hey, Kid." Emma slid into the booth in front of Henry, who was sipping on some water. "Order yet?"

"No, I was waiting for you." Emma smiled over at him, and he returned it, though, it didn't quite reach his eyes. 

Ruby came over and took their order. They sat there in silence for a moment. This awkward teenage stage was rough. Neither of them seemed to know what to say. She needed to find something to break through the silence, or it would be a long weekend.

"How's the poetry assignment going?" She inwardly cringed at herself. Bringing up his punishment as small talk probably wasn't the best ice breaker.

"Pretty good, actually." Emma looked at him, surprised. He had actually perked up a bit at the topic. What?! "I should be done this weekend."

"That's awesome, Kid." Ruby came over with their food. They dug in and had some small chat about school. "Any other homework this weekend?"

"No." Henry looked out the diner's window, and Emma followed his line of sight to see what he was looking at. She saw the Tillmans, minus Gretel, loading up a truck with camping gear having fun and laughing with a bunch of boys. She knew most of them were all Henry's close friends. With a heavy sigh, he turned his attention back to the food in front of him.

"Is there a big campout this weekend?" He didn't look up but nodded his head. She sat back and glanced out at the boys again. Maybe being outside and away from his moms for the weekend would do him some good. "Do you want to go?" His head shot up so fast Emma was worried he'd have whiplash.

"Seriously?!" The way his face lit up nearly made Emma cry. She hadn't seen him that happy in a while.

"Let me ask your Mom. This doesn't change any of your other punishments, though, okay?" He nodded enthusiastically as she pulled out her cell phone. To text or call? She settled on call and held her hand up for Henry to keep quiet. Regina answered before the first ring even finished.

"Is everything alright?" Emma smiled, always the worried Mom. 

"Yeah, no worries. Sorry to interrupt your Friday night fun with Maleficent" She wasn't really sorry, of course. "But there's a big camping trip this weekend Henry's been invited to, and I think it may do him some good to be out in the fresh air." She gave Henry a wink, and he smiled brightly at her.

"I see." Emma worried for a moment that she was overstepping and putting Regina in an awkward spot. That wasn't her intention. "That's probably a good idea. He's been such a stick in the mud." Emma tried to hold back her laugh but failed and earned an odd look from Henry. She was glad he couldn't hear what Regina had just said. "This doesn't get him out of his other punishments, though."

"I already told him as much." They had this co-parenting thing down pretty good.

"Okay, then. Tell him to have fun, but to be safe!"

"Will do. I'll talk to you later. Good luck with the spell making!" Not too much fun though…Ugh, she hated herself sometimes.

"Goodbye, Emma." Regina hung up, and Emma swore she heard her snort-laugh before she did.

"Well?!" Henry was nearly jumping up and down in his seat.

"You're good to go, Kid!" He raised his arms in victory, and she smiled at his excitement; there was the boy she knew still shining through the teen he was becoming. "Go catch them before they take off and we'll go get your gear together." He ran out of the diner in record speed.

"That's the happiest I've seen him in a long while," Granny said. Emma jumped at her sudden appearance. Granny continued, "The teenage years are rough, Sheriff. Enjoy the happy moments."

"I'll do my best, Granny." They shared a smile, and Emma reached for her wallet.

"No need to pay. It's already been taken care of by the Mayor."

"What?" That sneaky… 

"They're waiting on us, Ma!" Henry came running back in and slid to a halt in front of Granny.

"Careful, Henry!"

"Sorry, Granny." Granny held open her arms, and he laughed as he gave her a giant hug. Who was this kid, and where had he been the last few months?

"Have a fun, safe campout, Boy." Emma slid out from the booth, and Henry grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the door, making her laugh. She gave Granny and Ruby a wave on the way out.

They drove to the mansion since all Henry's camping gear was stored there. The camping caravan followed closely to load everything from there to save a trip back into town. They got everything together in record time, and Emma waved the group off as they pulled away from the curb. Just as she was about to get into the bug and head home, her phone binged with a text message.

"If you're still at the mansion, there's a fresh apple pie in the kitchen, help yourself. You can even have some of my ice cream, but save me some!" Emma couldn't walk away from fresh apple pie and ice cream. She headed to the mansion's front door and opened it up with the key Regina had given her a few months ago. She sent a quick gif of Minions celebrating to show Regina how happy she was about the pie and giggled, knowing Regina hated Minions. She soon received a gif of Judge Judy rolling her eyes, and Emma nearly died. Henry must have finally taught her about gif reactions. 

Once she got the pie plated and warmed up in the microwave, she placed a giant scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. It was like a work of art. Emma just admired it for a moment with nothing but warmth in her heart. She took a quick picture of it, and for the first time, she wished she had a social media account so she could show it off to everyone in the world. She savored every bite. She swore Regina made these things with some kind of spell that made them perfect. It wasn't magic that made them perfect, though; it was knowing how much love Regina made them with that made them perfect.

Emma contemplated having another slice when she finished off the last bite. Thinking better of it, Emma loaded her dishes in the dishwasher and wiped down the counter. She didn't want to leave any mess behind in the immaculate kitchen. Once completing her task to her satisfaction Emma headed to the front door to make her exit. She wasn't sure what she was going to do with herself now that her weekend was free. Poetry. Her weekend was going to be filled with poetry, who was she kidding? Her phone ringing stopped her in her tracks just before she reached the front door. Regina's smiling face was looking up at her, and she smiled like a fool back at it.

"Hey, I was just---"

"Savior?!" The smile vanished off of Emma's face.

"Maleficent?"

"There's been an accident--" 


	4. Chapter 4

Regina ended the call with a laugh and a smile on her face. She loved that Emma could see what Henry needed and made sure they both agreed on the matter.

"Did you just snort-laugh?" Regina turned to face Maleficent, who had a smirk on her face.

"No, don't be ridiculous." Regina could feel the warmth on her face and knew this was going to be a losing battle.

"Sure, dear. You should tell her how you feel, though."

"It's complicated."

"Is it? You two have such a connection. You should see how she looks at you."

Regina wasn't sure how to respond. She didn't think Emma could feel the same as she did. A few times, she thought maybe it was a mutual attraction, but her self doubts always got in the way. If Maleficent saw something, perhaps it was real? "I'm trying to write her a poem." She blushed. It seemed so silly saying it out loud.

"A poem? How adorable." Regina knew Mal was teasing. They'd known each other for a long time, and she trusted her.

"Oh, hush. It's a silly bet, but I was hoping to say more with it…"

"It's funny. No matter how much power we wield, we are powerless when it comes to matters of the heart."

"I may steal that for my poem." Regina didn't know Mal was such a romantic.

"Go ahead. All I ask for is a front-row seat to the wedding." Regina rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the spell ingredients in front of her. 

"I'm a bit worried about this one ingredient."

"Which one?" Mal came up beside her and looked down at the list.

"The cerise boletus. I have some dried, but the spell calls for fresh. Do you think it'll be a problem?"

"I think we should be okay." Mal picked the checklist up and double-checked all the ingredients. "If anything, it'll just slightly weaken the mixture, but I should be able to boost the potency with a bit of magic." Regina nodded in agreement. "I have some fresh sage in the backyard. Maybe using it instead of the dried will help balance it out. I'll go grab it." 

Once Maleficent was out of the room, Regina grabbed her phone to see if Emma had sent an update. There wasn't anything, but she figured they were probably still getting Henry's gear together. Which meant they were at the mansion, and that reminded her about the pie she had made. Emma would probably enjoy a surprise snack offering. She sent the blonde a text and laughed at the silly Minion gif Emma sent in return. Henry had just shown her all about reaction gifs recently, so she looked up eye roll and sent the first one that came up.

Regina placed her phone down and looked around at everything on the table. If it all went well, they should finish soon. Grabbing some matches, she pulled the bunsen burner towards her and looked at it closely. She'd never used one like this before. It seemed to be directly connected to a gas source from what she could tell. She turned the little valve on it and heard the hiss of gas. Lighting the match, she held it above the burner. Suddenly there was a loud whooshing sound, and a gigantic fireball ignited in front of her. Jumping back in surprise, she lost her balance as her heel landed awkwardly on the floor, and then everything went dark.

* * *

"What happened?!"

"I don't really know. I went outside for a moment, and when I came back, she was on the floor bleeding. She had lit the burner, and it was up too high. So I think maybe it startled her, and she fell?"

"So just a fluke accident? No magic involved?"

"I didn't see or sense anything out of the ordinary. I healed her cut and the bump on her head, but she's going to have a pretty good headache."

Regina could hear Emma and Maleficent talking and tried to open her eyes. She squeezed them shut as soon as the light hit them. Ugh, her head hurt.

"Take it slow, dear. You took a pretty good bump to the head." She tried again, and two blondes slowly came into focus as they continued to talk above her.

"Are you sure we don't need to take her to the hospital?"

"Don't trust my healing magic, Savior?"

"I'm just worried…"

"I'm okay." Regina attempted to sit up and finally managed to with the help of Emma. She was surprised to find she was on the couch in her study. "How'd I get here?"

"I brought you home since Emma was already here. I thought you'd be more comfortable waking up here."

"Thank you. I feel ridiculous. I just basically tripped over myself." She brought her hand to her temple and cringed.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Emma sat down next to her on the couch and gently placed her palm on her cheek. It took Regina's breath away.

"Well." Mal cleared her throat and winked at Regina. "I'll leave you in the Savior's capable hands." Before Regina could say anything, Mal was gone in a cloud of magic.

"Can I get you anything?" Regina turned her attention back to Emma. The blonde's hand was still on her cheek. It was so warm and tender.

"I…" How do I word? What are words? "Maybe some aspirin would do me some good?" Regina cringed but not because of her headache. 

"On it." Emma popped up and ran off to get the medicine. Regina fell back into the couch and tried to collect her thoughts. The concern Emma was showing her was melting her heart.

"Here you go." Emma was back with water and aspirin in record time. Regina gratefully took the items from her and swallowed the aspirin. She swore she felt some relief right away, but it could be that Mal's magic was still doing its thing.

"Thank you."

"Need anything else? I can make some tea?"

"Just sit down, Emma. I'm fine." Emma nodded and sat down on the couch beside her, but Regina could feel her nervous energy. "Are you okay?" 

"I… I was scared. I thought something horrible had happened to you when Maleficent called. I guess I'm still a bit rattled." She stood back up and paced in front of the couch. "I'm gonna go make that tea…" Emma rushed from the room. Sighing, Regina stood and followed the blonde to the kitchen.

Regina watched as Emma made her way around the kitchen with ease. When had she become so comfortable letting someone into her everyday life like this? Well, not just someone. Emma—only Emma. "I think you better make it camomille, dear."

The sound of the kettle whistling didn't slow Emma down. She grabbed it off the stove and filled the two cups she had on the counter. Regina watched in awe as Emma prepared her tea precisely the way she liked it. Emma turned and placed the tea in front of her with a small smile. "Careful, it's hot."

"Thank you, dear." She watched as Emma leaned back against the counter and brought her cup to her lips. She immediately pulled it back after burning her tongue with the hot liquid. "Careful, it's hot." Regina bit her lip to contain a laugh as Emma looked over at her with a sheepish grin.

"Regina…" Emma looked like she wanted to say something, and Regina wished she would. She could only hope that they were thinking the same thoughts. "Can I read you something I found in one of Henry's poetry books?"

"Of course you can." A moment passed where Emma just looked at her, and Regina felt as if Emma saw something in her she couldn't.

"Can we maybe go outside? I feel like I need some fresh air." Regina nodded and followed Emma out into the back yard. She was surprised when Emma sat down on the grass, but she was so adorable that Regina had to follow her example and sat down beside her. "Oh, crap. Let me see if I can do this." Emma closed her eyes tight, and Regina was confused for a moment until she realized Emma was trying to use her magic. A wisp of white smoke appeared over Emma's outstretched hands, and a book appeared. The word Hafiz was printed boldly across the cover.

"Very good, dear." A blush washed over Emma's face at her appraisal. God, she was just so cute.

"Thanks, I've been practicing." There was a bookmark placed between the book's pages, and Emma opened it to that spot. "I asked Henry if I could borrow one of his books, you know, so that I could find some inspiration. He handed me this one and said it was too mushy for him." She laughed nervously, and Regina reached out and slid her hand up and down Emma's arm, hoping it'd help calm her nerves. "Anyways, I read this one and it, well, I guess the best thing to do is just read it, huh?" 

  
  


**_There is a Beautiful Creature_**

**_Living in a hole you have dug._ **

**_So at night_ **

**_I set fruit and grains_ **

**_And little pots of wine and milk_ **

**_Besides your soft earthen mounds,_ **

**_And I often sing._ **

**_But still, my dear,_ **

**_You do not come out._ **

**_I have fallen in love with Someone_ **

**_Who hides inside you._ **

**_We should talk about this problem--_ **

**_Otherwise,_ **

**_I will never leave you alone._ **

Regina didn't even realize she was crying until she felt Emma's warm hand cup her cheek. Her thumb wiped away one tear and then another. Regina was drowning in Emma's caring green eyes, looking at her so intently. She leaned forward and crashed her lips into Emma's before her brain could overthink anything else. There was no pause or surprise from Emma as she returned the kiss. Why had they waited so long to do this? Their tongues danced together, their teeth nipped at each other's lips. They pulled apart and rested their foreheads together as they caught their breath.

"Wow." Emma grinned. "So, you liked the poem?"

Regina shook her head and brought her hands up and took hold of Emma's face. "I didn't like it." Emma's eyes grew wide, but before she could say anything, Regina kissed her once again. When that heated kiss finally ended, Regina placed a small tender kiss on the tip of Emma's nose. "I loved it."

"Yay!"

"You're a dork. An adorable dork, but a dork." They just smiled at each other for a moment. Regina wanted to remember this moment forever, so she just soaked in every emotion washing over her. She untangled herself from Emma and stood up and straightened out her skirt. "I think I'm ready for bed, Miss Swan."

"Oh, I better get going then--"

"Emma..." Regina held her hand out to Emma, who looked a bit confused for a second. Then as the realization of the moment hit her, she smiled brightly.

"Oh!" Emma grabbed Regina's hand, and they walked hand in hand into the mansion. "Does this mean I won the bet?"

"You didn't write that poem, dear."

"But…"

"The bet is still on, though, the stakes might be a bit different now." She winked at Emma and ran ahead up the stairs.

"I can totally live with that!" Emma laughed and gave chase up the stairs.


	5. Chapter 5

One Week Later - 

"Okay, let's just exchange the poems. Then we can read what the other wrote?" Emma was nervous. She felt like she didn't do a perfect job with the challenge, but to be fair, she'd been a bit distracted ever since they finally figured out their feelings for each other.

"That works for me." Regina held out a beautiful notecard for Emma to take. Of course, Regina picked out the perfect paper for her poem. Emma blushed and smiled sheepishly as she handed over her poem. It was written on a napkin from Granny's.

"I was going to have a better presentation, but I've been a bit distracted lately, as you know." Emma winked at blushing Regina.

"Title pending?" Regina looked up at Emma with a raised eyebrow.

"I suck at titles, sorry." Emma looked down at her hands, nervously. Soon she felt a finger slide under her chin, and it slowly lifted her line of sight, so she was looking into beautiful brown eyes.

"I think it's perfect." Regina leaned forward and placed a tender kiss onto Emma's lips before turning her attention back to the poem.

"It's a haiku, so I didn't break the rules. I had wanted it to be a bit more emotional than it turned out. I even found my old journal to try and help me, but it just ended up making me make an appointment with Archie. I...I hope you like it..." Regina smiled lovingly at her, and Emma felt like her heart would beat through her chest. Regina cleared her throat to read the poem out loud...

  
  


**_Magical Evening_ **

**_a Simple Swan Learns to Soar_ **

**_Because of her Queen_ **

"It's beautiful, Emma." Regina leaned forward so she could kiss her. "I love it."

"You're not just saying that to make me feel better?"

"I would never lie about something like this to spare your feelings, Miss Swan." Emma laughed. She supposed that was the truth.

"Okay, my turn." Emma looked down at the beautifully written poem in her hand. Regina's handwriting was immaculate. "No title?" She looked up with a smirk on her face, and Regina just rolled her eyes.

"I didn't realize a title was a requirement?" She lightly shoved Emma in the shoulder. "Just read it already."

"So, bossy." Emma gripped the paper between her fingers and began to read...

  
  


**_I Heard a Happy, Wandering Pouting_ **

**_While I Pondered, Slight and Doubting_ **

**_I was an Attendee and you an Impression_ **

**_The Subtle Stamp Swaggering_ **

**_While I Pondered, Heartbroken and Conspirational_ **

**_I Crave the Soft, Swift Smile_ **

**_My Mind Always Strays to Losses_ **

**_And so you Came Gently Grasping_ **

**_I Discovered the Defeats_ **

**_The Shy Sulky Swanning_ **

"That was beautiful, Regina. I don't even know what to say." Her throat was tight as she attempted to hold back her tears. "I love you."

"I love you too, Emma." Regina surged forward, and Emma fell back onto the bed. They kissed each other, deeply getting lost in a tangle of arms and legs.

"Regina?" Emma wrapped Regina up in her arms and pulled her tightly into her side.

"Yes, dear?"

"I believe there was some rhyming in your poem."

"I was hoping you'd miss that…"

"So...I won!"

"I suppose..." Regina turned around in Emma's arms and kissed her deeply. Emma sucked in a shaky breath when Regina slowly moved down, kissing every piece of exposed skin along the way.

"Tie! Definitely a tie."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! [~Noname_Kat](https://twitter.com/noname_kat)
> 
> Remember - writers and artists spent months creating the fics and art you enjoy, so it would mean the world to them if you commented to tell them what you liked! A creator who feels appreciated is a creator who is more likely to write or create art again in the future!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Poetry is Love [Art, Protostar]](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26225776) by [junetree74](https://archiveofourown.org/users/junetree74/pseuds/junetree74)
  * [Poetry is Love [Art, Protostar]](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26225776) by [junetree74](https://archiveofourown.org/users/junetree74/pseuds/junetree74)




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